The Colorful Landscape of South Dakota's Badlands
Badlands National Park a Scenic and Geological Source of Amazement for Visitors
Jun 19, 2009
On a lonely stretch of road leading to South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, first-time visitors may have little idea what awaits them. But once on the park’s main loop scenic route—Highway 240—the dramatic sights appear in succession along some 30 plus miles of meandering paved roadway.
The Web site HowStuffWorks.com, a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, describes the variety of the Badlands as enabling a “walk or drive across the rolling grasslands almost to its borders without being aware that this vast expanse of otherworldly terrain is nearby. Suddenly, in a matter of a few yards, you are amid a theatrical and bewildering jumble of towers and imposing buttresses. Rock palaces, hundreds of feet high, loom large against big prairie sky.”
The GORPtravel site notes that: “A drive along the Badlands Loop Road evokes some of the same emotions experienced by early settlers crossing this ominous and forbidding terrain in horse-drawn caravans.” For that reason, the area is a contradiction of “sheer beauty” in “a potentially hostile and barren” region.
Lunar-like Appearance of Badlands
The Badlands consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and tinted spires blended with an enormous mixed-grass prairie. Parts of it are known for a stark moon-like appearance with other spots having an arid landscape. The park was once the floor of a vast inland sea layered in river silt, clay, volcanic ash, limestone, and sandstone. The effect of rain, wind, and frost left steep canyons, sharp jagged ridges, and gullies that are all seen today—reflecting the geological changes.
Driving through the park also highlights the many multi-colored rock forms. Varying amounts of iron oxide within the soil create the banded, rusty-red layers in the siltstone and sandstone found in several of the Badlands formations.
Established as the Badlands National Monument in 1939, the area was designated as a national park in 1978. Many visitors come, in part, because of the proximity to Mount Rushmore and other nearby attractions.
Hiking On and Off Trails in Park
The road through the park has many pullouts for scenic overlooks as well as marked walking and hiking trails, and campgrounds. Many of the vistas have boardwalks, in addition to rattlesnake warnings. The hiking trials are easy to moderate in difficulty.
The park also has a number of self-guided nature walks, with off-trail hiking permitted. Backpackers may venture off the marked trails for enjoyment of the solitude. One of the most commonly hiked trails in the 1/4-mile Fossil Exhibit Trail, which has wheelchair accessibility. The trail features exhibits of some of the 30-million-year-old fossils of three-toed horses, saber-toothed cats, and giant rhinoceros-like beasts called titanotheres discovered in the Badlands.
The National Park Service rangers urge caution to all hikers who may encounter wildlife along the way. They recommend keeping a distance of at least 100 yards if witnessing bison (otherwise known as American Buffalo), pronghorn antelope, mountain bighorn sheep, coyotes, mule deer, prairie dogs, or, of course, any prairie rattlesnakes.
Sighting of Black-Footed Ferrets
Driving along Sage Creek Rim Road can afford the opportunity to see a rare view of the small number of black-footed ferrets in the park. The park service reports that the ferrets currently are the most endangered mammal in North America.
Within the park, the Ben Reifel Visitor Center includes natural history exhibits, a bookstore with books and DVDs about the area, and a film highlighting the park. A trail map for the Badlands is available for purchase at the visitor center.
Next door, the Cedar Pass Lodge offers a gift shop with pottery, beadwork, and jewelry. In the summer, the restaurant at the lodge serves Indian tacos, trout, steaks, and buffalo burgers.
Campsites and Cabins Available
Cedar Pass Campground, also near the visitor center, has both campsites and small cabins for rent. The campground is operated on a first-come, first-served basis.
The park itself is open year-round, with the main entrance about 10 miles south of Wall, South Dakota, on Highway 240. Take Interstate-90 toward Wall, to Exit 110 or 131 to access the Badlands Loop Road. The Badlands is located about one hour east of Rapid City on the interstate.
In addition, the loop road connects with I-90 at Exit 121. This is the east entrance to the Badlands. Shortly before the interstate is the Prairie Homestead, which is on the Register of National Historic Places and is one of the only original sod dwellings on display in South Dakota. The homestead offers a glimpse of prairie pioneer life and is open daily in the summer. An adjacent gift shop has an extensive selection of Sioux pottery.
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